Kathi Pelton: The Blessings of an Obedient Life

from the Elijah List website [www.elijahlist.com]


Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God...—Deuteronomy 28:1-2

It is the Lord's desire to bless His people! His blessings upon our lives are not just "wishful thinking" in the minds of Believers, but they are God's promises to His children who will live according to all the words that He has spoken to us. If you have been in a season of testing and refining (and I'm sure that most of you have), then do not lose heart, because your season of testing is unto a release of a lifetime of blessings.

Though I cannot speak to each of you individually, I can speak to the larger Body of Christ and say that we have sometimes been a bit "hard of hearing" in the past season. Though I know that we have walked in the level of discernment that we have known, there is a maturing coming upon us which is releasing a greater ability to hear.

In the past season, there has been grace to walk in a mixture of natural logic and understanding as well as God's knowledge and wisdom. But as we are going through this season of refinement, I have found that many I talk to these days are not satisfied with any mixture, but in each decision they only want God's wisdom. It is as if there has been a "crossing over" from the wilderness into the Promised Land; but before possessing the land there had to be a circumcision in our lives in order to prepare us to walk only by His instructions.

God's Ways Are Not Our Ways

Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. The LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors. You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days.

"Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.

"It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead."—Joshua 6:1-5

Let's face it—there is no mixture of man's logic or wisdom in these instructions! But, God's ways are not our ways. God had a plan to reveal His power as His children obeyed His voice—not the voice of logic but the voice of God.

God's instructions to Joshua were ridiculous in the eyes of men. What kind of strategy is there in marching around a city for days, and then letting out a shout? If your goal is to be mocked by those on the walls of that city, it is a great strategy! But, God wasn't concerned about showing the strength of men, but rather showing His glory and power in the midst of the weakness of men who were simply willing to obey.

My husband and I feel a bit like those who marched around the walls of Jericho right now, because what the Lord has asked us to do looks like absolute foolishness, even to us. But, like Joshua, we know that we have heard the voice of our God, and so we obey. The amazing thing is that, just as the walls of Jericho fell, all that God has spoken to us will happen too. Obedience releases miracles!

The Blessings

Deuteronomy 27:9-13 recounts how God separated the tribes on two mountains to release both the curses of disobedience and the blessings of obedience:

Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, "Be silent and listen, O Israel! This day you have become a people for the LORD your God. You shall therefore obey the LORD your God, and do His commandments and His statutes which I command you today."

Moses also charged the people on that day, saying, "When you cross the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. For the curse, these shall stand on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali."

This did not happen prior to the crossing of the Jordan River; but as soon as the crossing over had taken place, God "raised the bar" of obedience. The consequences of disobedience were greater, but the blessings of an obedient life were (and still are) amazing. Let's look at the blessings that God releases upon those who keep His commandments:

Deuteronomy 28

If you will listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God, being watchful to do all His commandments which I command you this day, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you heed the voice of the Lord your God.

Blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the field.

Blessed shall be the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your beasts, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock.

Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading trough.

Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out.

The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.

The Lord shall command the blessing upon you in your storehouse and in all that you undertake. And He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

The Lord will establish you as a people holy to Himself, as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways.

And all people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name (and in the presence of) the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you.

And the Lord shall make you have a surplus of prosperity, through the fruit of your body, of your livestock, and of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.

The Lord shall open to you His good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.

And the Lord shall make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day and are watchful to do them.

And you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

I believe that over the past couple of years the Body of Christ has experienced a time of "crossing over," a time of circumcision, and a time of consecration that requires a higher level of hearing and obeying the voice of His instructions. Hearing and obeying is the key to great blessings. This is a time that we need to flee from any place of presumption in our lives. We cannot just go about our days in the ways that we used to. We must stop, listen and obey, even when we do not understand His instructions.

The Purification

Now that I have your attention with all of these wonderful blessings in store for us, let me address the process of purification that we have been going through leading up to this point in time. Let's go back to when the Israelites crossed the Jordan in Deuteronomy 27:2-7:

So it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land which the LORD your God gives you, that you shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with lime and write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over, so that you may enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.

So it shall be when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up on Mount Ebal, these stones, as I am commanding you today, and you shall coat them with lime.

Moreover, you shall build there an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones; you shall not wield an iron tool on them.

You shall build the altar of the LORD your God of uncut stones, and you shall offer on it burnt offerings to the LORD your God; and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and eat there, and rejoice before the LORD your God.

Prior to the release of the blessings of obedience in Deuteronomy 28, God first gives instructions of how to build an altar of stones to Him on which His law will be written. I believe that these verses are a picture of the "living stones" that God is preparing at this time.

In verse 2 they are instructed with these words, "...shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with lime..." These were large stones because they were not to be cut by the tools of man, but they were to remain uncut. Even today, God is restoring us back to the form that He originally intended for us. He is healing us from the areas in our lives that have been distorted by the hands of man's "tools" or religious ways.

Then the stones were "coated with lime" (which makes a plaster to hold them together). Here is the Hebrew definition of lime:

The Hebrew word so rendered means "boiling" or "effervescing." From Isaiah 33:12 it appears that lime was made in a kiln lighted by thorn-bushes. In Amos 2:1 it is recorded that the king of Moab "burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime." The same Hebrew word is used in Deuteronomy 27:2-4, and is there rendered "plaster." Limestone is the chief constituent of the mountains of Syria. (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

Once again, we as living stones are being coated with lime as the plaster that will usher in the unity that Jesus prays for in John 17:20-21: I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

The lime is made in a kiln lit by thorn-bushes, and this represents the fiery kiln that we have been in to prepare us during this past season. The "thorn-bushes" in our lives are being burned away and creating the fire for this preparation. I know that personally I have been quite surprised by the "thorns" that I became aware of in this past year that I had no idea were present in my life. I also have experienced a "burning away" of these thorns in my life that could have posed a threat to God's plans for me in the days ahead. Plus, how can you be "one" or in unity with someone whose life is like a thorn bush? Have you ever hugged a rose bush? They are beautiful to look at, but not to embrace.

I remember when my youngest son was four or five years old, he was learning to ride his bicycle without training wheels. On his first loop around our cul-de-sac he did great, but the second time around he crashed straight into a rose bush. We could barely see his little body that now was "one" with this thorn bush. If it wasn't bad enough seeing him crash into it, it was even worse getting him out of it. His entire body was scratched and bleeding from the thorns tearing into his flesh. Sometimes interacting with others has been like crashing into a thorn-bush; it rips and tears going in and coming out. This has been a huge obstacle in seeing the desire of Jesus to have us "be one as (He) and the Father are one."

In God's mercy and love He has allowed the thorn-bushes in our lives to become the fuel to refine us into what the Master Potter desires us to be. We will not be vessels formed by the hands of man but by the hands of God. I hope that I am painting a picture through the Word of God regarding what His people have been facing in this past season. It is not unto despair but unto great blessings and promises fulfilled.

Move into the Blessings

Beloved, now is the time to allow the completion of this refining process and preparation. Surrender to the Potter's skilled hands, allow yourself to be restored to being an "uncut" living stone, allow the thorn-bushes to be burned away and the lime to be poured over you for the sake of unity. Then let the "blessings" that the Lord desires to overtake you be released upon you as you live by every word that He speaks to you. Remember—all of His promises are "Yes and Amen!"

I would like to encourage you to read and declare the blessings in Deuteronomy 28 over your lives, your families, your relationships, your work and ministries each day. This is a time to offer a sacrifice of rejoicing to Him and to agree with every promise and blessing that He has offered His children.

I call Heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the blessings and the curses; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live.—Deuteronomy 30:19 (Amplified Bible)

Today...choose blessings and choose life!

Kathi Pelton
Light Streams Ministries
Email: jkpelton@sbcglobal.net

Your Hands for War

These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience). Judges 3:1-2

Do not desire to be trained for spiritual warfare if you are not yet able to obey God in laying down your life and all the things you want in life to gain His desires and His plans for your life. The Lord's training for warfare is going to cost you your life -- nothing less. If you cannot follow Him that way, you cannot follow Him at all.

He is the One who trains. He is the One who teaches. If you do not yield to that, you will yield to something else. If you do not submit to the training and discipline of God, you will submit to something else. You are either for God... or for something else.

Who will you yield to? Who will you submit to? Who will you let train you? God? Or someone else?

God will train your hands for war, especially if you have not experienced it before. But you have to recognize that initially it is going to look unattractive, painful and uncomfortable. You're not going to like it at first, but in the end God's training -- the testings that come; the sacrifices required; the obediences demanded -- will strengthen your feeble knees, train your hands for battle and make you the warrior God has designed you to be.

But first be yielded to His will.

This war cannot be won with complacency and nonchalance. The devil has had us blinded for far too long already. Recognize that you are a soldier in God's army and you have a destiny that Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy -- both in the physical and the spiritual. The devil will stop at nothing to eliminate you -- you are a bane to his existence. He wants you dead. And if you cannot even learn to kill your flesh or even control your emotions, the devil will find it easy to toy around with you. If you won't even cry out to God for help, do not expect to put the enemy under your feet. Chances are the enemy will be doing tap dances on you.

God allows hardship into your life not to weaken you or to push you down, but because He wants to strengthen you by causing you to draw near to Him -- not run away from Him. That's how He trains you. Training for warfare is not easy. Understand that. Training is going to be tough. Why? Because the enemy is tough and he's been at it for much longer than you have been. But if in every painful and disappointing situation in your life you choose to run from God and cower in your own corner, how will you learn to fight this enemy of ours?

The Lord knows you are weak, that's why He has sent His Spirit to empower you. But you have got to make the choice to get with the program -- go all the way for God. That's how you win. Decide to follow Him no matter what the cost is, no matter what needs to be let go and laid down. Your present sufferings are called "light and momentary troubles" in the New Testament and compared to the glory yet to come, what we go through in this lifetime is nothing but a breath.

God will train your hands for war. He will equip you to not just survive the daily assaults from the enemy and from the world, but to be a victor at every turn. Just ask for Him to train you. Cry out to God to help you. Be yielded to His ways and then you'll see yourself becoming stronger in the strength of His might. You'll see yourself becoming the conqueror He sees and says you are!

Empty your hands! The Lord wants to train them for war!


"Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. O LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him?" Psalm 144:1-3

Stay Under Cover

You think submission to authority is restrictive? Try being confined in a box buried six feet under ground!

Link

DGen: One Dream at a Time -- Our Date With Akira Kurosawa

The guys who read about the scheduled cell group activity with Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa were intrigued as to what exactly was going to happen on the January 24 meeting. I gave as little information as I could on my Multiply calendar because I wanted to surprise the guys in the cell.

So we gathered together last Saturday at 4pm in the yellow room in our church building, and in attendance with me and the Lord were Charles, Louie, Elisha, Jason and Ronnie Jr., and, of course, the late Akira Kurosawa, who was anything but late [I wish I could say the same about the "other guys" who came to the cell. hehehe].

We had a wonderful time in praise and worship before we viewed Akira Kurosawa's Dreams. As always, burdens were lifted and cares were cast off in the presence of the Lord. We drew closer to God and He drew closer to us. The presence of the Lord was awesome.

Then, we proceeded with the film showing. There was one Famoso Guerrero who was really eager to press "play" on the laptop to get the movie started. I had to pacify his excitement by telling him to be cool and relax [FG was gushing with enthusiasm].

So, I turned off the lights and hit the play button and we started watching "Sunshine Through the Rain", the first episode in the series of eight "dreams", told in the form of short films [read the synopsis of the first dream].

The room was really quiet with a few whispers here and there, coming mostly from our invited guest and fellow DGen'er [FG!] who was eager to find out what was going on in this first dream. Sunshine Through the Rain was more of a fantasy-type, fable-like dream and it generated a question from the audience.

"I thought all Japanese films were supposed to be scary?" said one of the muffled voices in the room, who has obviously seen way too many scary Japanese films starring the likes of Sadako and Toshio.

"Shhh! Try to pay attention to the film guys, so you'll get the message of it," was my reply to this query.

Their eyes were glued to the wedding procession of the foxes who, according to the woman in the film, conduct this activity every time the sun shines through rain -- hence the title of the episode.

Afterward, the film came to it's open-ended conclusion and the lights came back on. It was discussion time.

I was very excited about what each of the five guys in the cell saw or derived from the film, as I myself have gotten so much revelation and insight from this part of "Dreams". My first question to the group was: what did you like about the short film? What element -- whether visual or thematic -- caught your eye?

Two of the guys in the group -- Jason and Elisha -- said they liked the foxes. I assumed they meant the wedding march as well. Cool! They liked the foxes. Who wouldn't? I mean when you choreograph a wedding march like that, what's not to like? [you gotta see it to know what we're talking about ;o)]

"Anything else?"

Ronnie said he found the film to be a very lonely one. I guess he meant the tone or the atmosphere of it. And to some degree I agree. He also noticed the issue of submission to authority as represented by the woman instructing the young boy to stay out of the rain to avoid seeing the fox procession, because they get "very angry" when someone does. Astute! I noted that as well.

Louie, on the other hand, was smoking hot -- nag aso-aso -- with revelation. I wasn't even able to ask my second question [which was supposed to be about the kingdom principles or insight they got from the film] and he was already firing off. I was secretly laughing at seeing his eagerness and enthusiasm. Lingaw ko.

"So much for my notes," I told the group, as Louie practically shared to the guys what I jotted down on my notebook. Hahaha! But it was all good. Nalipay ra ko with how the Lord spoke to him through the film and how it showed his depth of perception.

Meanwhile, Charles pointed out the young boy's hesitation in the film -- whether to obey the woman and stay indoors or to disobey his authority figure and wander off and check out the foxes' wedding ceremony. Charles said the boy's body language [again, you have to see it to know what we mean] conveyed the inner conflict we have each time we are presented with a choice.

It was a very enjoyable conversation and much longer than I could transcribe here but toward the end, I asked the guys what they saw in the final shot of Sunshine Through the Rain [pictured above].

Louie was quick to point out that it was about hope, thus rendering my notes useless... again! Hahaha! I didn't tell him right away that he was right but waited for the others to reply. The other guys associated the presence of the rainbow with the flood -- the great flood and Noah -- [they thought there were flood waters behind the rainbow in the picture]. Ronnie said something about the end being incomplete [bitin] -- we were never shown if the boy found the foxes -- and forgiveness for that matter -- or if he indeed used the knife to take his own life, to which I said, "that's the cool thing about open-ended conclusions: they open up room for discussion and speculation and it stirs up the viewers imagination."

I went back to Louie and told him he was right. The image was about hope. Then I asked him why he came to that conclusion.

"It's in your notes," he said pointing to my notebook.

"Yeah, I know that! But I'm asking you and I want to know what you think," came my reply.

Louie started to explain his answer, which was way too theological and complicated for me [hahaha], and the guys and I were too blown away with the way he pronounced "plateau" and "artistically" that we all had a good laugh. He was describing the picture in detail and what each detail meant, but I told him to simplify his answer because the answer in the image was very simple.

I explained to the guys that image was about hope because of the presence and implication of the "rainbow". It represented the nature of God as a covenant keeper and that no matter what trials, testing and storms in life we go through, even as a result of our disobedience, God's promises are always there for us. More importantly, He keeps every word of those promises.

Then somebody breaks out in song: "All Your promises won't let go of me!"

And I said, "Amen! That's it!"

I really loved what the Lord did for us that afternoon. He showed me and the guys a lot of things. Among the other things that we noted in the film were as follows:

+ Sin starts out small, but once you indulge in it and get caught up in it's web, you will find that it gets bigger and bigger to the point that you get glued to it. [depicted in the film when the boy first sees the wedding march making a smokey entrance and later fully parades in front of him]

+ Sometimes we never get the gravity of our sin until it looks us in the eye and we see how far we have been taken by our disobedience, which then causes us to realize the truth and flee from sin. [depited in the film when the foxes catch the boy ogling at their wedding march, causing the boy to run from them]

+ The wages of sin is death. When the boy goes back to his house, the woman tells him one of the foxes visited and left him a knife. The boy was supposedly to kill himself with it for seeing something "he should not have" [man, haven't we done this too many times in our lives! hahaha!].

+ Never take the delegated authority -- of your parents and leaders -- for granted because it keeps you covered and protected.

+ We Christians are called the bride of Christ. One of the things the Lord revealed to us that afternoon was that as a bride, we can choose to be either married to Christ or married to sin.

We ended the meeting by praying for each other... and that constitutes another blog entry altogether.

For now, I want to give God all the glory for what He is doing in the lives of these young men. He is the true Cell Group Leader, the Trainer, the Teacher. And He's doing a great and mighty thing in this Davidic Generation.




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By the way, the name "Akira" means "bright", "intelligent", or "clear".